The strange thing about being in prison is that general decorum and basic human decency is hard to find. If you look hard enough you can find some small fragments of civil society, but for the most part, KDOC is run like an authoritarian monarchy. However, instead of just one single person being in charge, it seems that everyone with a badge and/or staff designation is the expert on everything in the IMPP and in the your life at that time.
Today we were supposed to receive new mattresses, and trust me when I say, they are desperately needed. Mine had seen some better days and was more or less disintegrating before my eyes and little each day. We also were told that the outlet receptacles in our room were going to be fixed, but that has yet to be done either and my tablet is nearly dead.
Also, I nearly got in huge trouble during dayroom today. A friendly enough guy down the run from my cell has been complaining about a toothache for a couple days and has not been allowed to see a dentist or even be allowed to get some ibuprofen to deal with the pain. I had a couple extra ibuprofen tablets and offered to let him have them. So, when dayroom opened up, I dropped the packet on the floor and kicked it into his cell. One of the COs, officer Wilson, caught me in the act and immediately confiscated the pills and sent me back to my cell. I was scared shitless and didn’t know what to do other than to do as I was told. She came up to my cell after about 5 minutes to speak with me directly and I apologized for what I had attempted to do, but explained that I was only trying to help someone who was in tremendous pain and was not getting any of the necessary attention.
Officer Wilson is one of the good ones. She took the time to listen to me and hear me out. She respected my intentions and decided not to write me up and even allowed me the final few minutes of dayroom to call my wife. I was lucky. She could be harsh and to others she was awful, but I can see why she has to maintain that appearance. Most of the other officers would not think twice about making an example out of someone like me.